''Maxakalisaurus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

titanosaur Titanosaurs (or titanosaurians; members of the group Titanosauria) were a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, including genera from all seven continents. The titanosaurs were the last surviving group of long-necked sauropods, with taxa still thr ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

, found in the

Adamantina Formation The Adamantina Formation is a geological formation in the Bauru Basin of western São Paulo state, in southeastern Brazil. Its strata date back to the Late Cretaceous epoch of the Cretaceous Period, during the Mesozoic Era. The formation is p ...

of Brazil, in the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

in 1998. The genus name is derived from the tribe of the

Maxakali The Maxakali are an ethnic group of indigenous people in Brazil. Geography and Ethnology The Maxakali live in the districts of Santa Helena de Minas, Bertópolis, Ladainha and Teófilo Otoni in the federal state Minas Gerais. The 400 memb ...

; Topa is one of their divinities.Kellner, A.W.A., Campos, D.A., Azevedo, S.A.K., Trotta, M.N.F., Henriques, D.D.R., Craik, M.M.T., and Silva, H.P. (2006).
On a new titanosaur sauropod from the Bauru Group, Late Cretaceous of Brazil.
" ''Boletim do Museu Nacional (Geologia)'', 74: 1-31.

Description

The type specimen of ''Maxakalisaurus'' belonged to an animal about long, with an estimated weight of . It had a long neck and tail, ridged teeth (unusual among sauropods) and lived about 80

million years ago The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds. Usage Myr (million years) is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used with Mya (million years ago) ...

. Because sauropods seem to have lacked significant competition in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, they evolved there with greater diversity and more unusual traits than elsewhere in the world. Like the fellow titanosaur ''

Saltasaurus ''Saltasaurus'' (which means "lizard from Salta") is a genus of saltasaurid dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous period of Argentina. Small among sauropods, though still heavy by the standards of modern creatures, ''Saltasaurus'' was characterized by ...

'', ''Maxakalisaurus'' had defensive

osteoderms Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates, or other structures based in the dermis. Osteoderms are found in many groups of extant and extinct reptiles and amphibians, including lizards, crocodilians, frogs, temnospondyls (extinct amphi ...

; one has been found on the holotype. In 2016, a new specimen comprising a dentary and teeth was described as belonging to ''Maxakalisaurus''. A reconstructed ''Maxakalisaurus'' skeleton was on display in the

National Museum of Brazil The National Museum of Brazil ( pt, Museu Nacional) is the oldest scientific institution of Brazil. It is located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where it is installed in the Paço de São Cristóvão (Saint Christopher's Palace), which is i ...

. It is currently unknown if it was damaged by the

National Museum of Brazil fire The National Museum of Brazil was heavily damaged by a large fire which began about 19:30 local time (23:30 UTC) on 2 September 2018. Although some items were saved, it is believed that 92.5% of its archive of 20 million items were destroyed in ...

on 2 September 2018.

Classification

França ''et al.'''s 2016 description of the second specimen also included a phylogenetic analysis, which placed ''Maxakalisaurus'' as a basal member of the Aeolosaurini. Their cladogram is shown below:

References

* Santucci, R. M. & Bertini, R.J. (2006). "A large sauropod titanosaur from Peirópolis, Bauru Group, Brazil." ''N. Jb. Geol. Paläont. Mh.'', 2006: 344-360; Stuttgart.

External links

Brazil's Biggest Dinosaur Unveiled
- LiveScience.com {{Taxonbar, from=Q134814 Lithostrotians Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of South America Cretaceous Brazil Fossils of Brazil Adamantina Formation Fossil taxa described in 2006 Taxa named by Alexander Kellner